Sarah Michelle Gellar Talks Buffy’s Queer Legacy & The Revival

Sarah Michelle Gellar never saw a reason to bring Buffy the Vampire Slayer back from the grave after the show wrapped in 2003. Then, she got one. In February, the actor confirmed she’s developing a revival of the beloved series based on a pitch from Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao. Of course, Gellar had heard countless ideas for Buffy reboots in the two decades since the show ended, but this one stood out.

“Every pitch I heard was just like, ‘Let’s just do Buffy again.’ Why?” Gellar says. “But the passion that [Zhao] came to me with, what she wanted to do with the show and the character, and why Buffy is needed now — it was the first time where I thought, ‘OK, there’s a reason.’”

While Gellar won’t disclose any specifics about the new iteration of Buffy (“If I told you, I would have to kill you”), she’s spent the last several years ensuring this next chapter makes sense and will be a worthy successor to the original. “We’ve been at this for three-and-a-half, maybe four years now,” Gellar says. “We won’t do it unless it’s 100% right and there’s 100% a reason.”

Gellar, who’s partnering with MyFitnessPal to promote its new meal-planner tool, will clarify one rumor that’s been spreading across the internet, though. In March, TVLine reported details about three characters who would comprise the revival’s new Scooby Gang: a brainy 16-year-old Slayer named Nova, a wealthy nerd named Hugo, and a vampire expert named Gracie. Per Gellar, none of this information is factual.

“Those are all fake characters,” Gellar says. “That thing that got released is all fake.”

One thing Buffy fans can rest assured on is that the new show will continue the franchise’s legacy as a beacon for the outcasts. The original series has become particularly exalted by its large queer fandom, and it makes sense to Gellar why the show is still important to LGBTQ+ viewers.

“The whole point of an antihero is to be a hero for the people who don’t fit in the box, the people who aren’t like everybody else,” Gellar says. “That’s who I want to tell stories for: the person that really looks to these stories to feel a connection.”

As she continues to fine-tune the next chapter for Buffy, Gellar credits meal-planning as her trick to staying healthy and well-fed amid her busy schedule. (“It’s no different than studying for a test. If you’ve done your work, the test is easy.”)

For now, the actor has her eye on another ’90s remake. A day before we chat, the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel trailer was released, and while Gellar won’t be in the movie, she visited the set and says she’s been “living for the memes” from fans. After all, it’s the project where she met her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr., who is returning for the new iteration.

Helen Shivers may not have been the final girl, but as Gellar prepares to pick up her iconic stake once again, she’s proving what Buffy fans have always known — the Slayer always comes back.